Stolea
Stolea is a protectorate feudal world of little strategic importance, yet still, a contributing part of the Federation, which took over the struggling world a nearly two centuries ago. The population is mostly tending to itself, sticking to their way of life they knew from millennia ago, only one family from Europa Prime imposed themselves as the ruling family of the world after the Europan Planetary Federation replaced the previous king. History Ancient history The ancient history is not known, due to severe lack of any written or digital records. The world was, however, once ruled by the Imperial governor, although the world seems to be forgotten as no tithes were collected over centuries nor any high-ranking official visited. People tended to themselves, continuing in what they always did, trying to survive the harsh winters, wars, and famines, while trying to stay out of the way of their rulers' political machinations in case they were the common folk, or marry well and concentrate wealth and power in case of the ruling elite. 905.M41 The planet was, as many others, discovered during a patrol through the area. The planet was mostly silent, apart from an automated response beacon transmitting on Imperial frequencies with obsolete encryption protocols. The patrol fleet made a close-proximity fly-by with augurs at pull power, revealing the planet being inhabited by humans, living in feudal society. The acting commodore, Jurre Akres, made a planetfall near one of the largest castle-like structures and was immediately met with dozens of peasants bowing to him, thanking the god for sending the Sky people back. Meeting with King Iakob VII was quite fruitful, as even him, the highest authority was bowing to the confused commodore, thanking him and the gods for return. The commodore was then introduced to a young, well-built woman named Rylee, king's daughter and was told he must marry her so the Sky people can once more rule over Stolea and bring peace and prosperity as they promised many years ago. After a short briefing with other captains and the Naval command, Jurre agreed to marry her. *Historians agreed on that the term Sky People most probably refers to Imperial officials who visited this planet before they abandoned it, destined to a similar fate as was intended for Europa Prime. 906.M41 to 994.M41 With the King Jurre Akres being ceremonially crowned as the ultimate ruler of Stolea, several months after his marriage with Princess Rylee of Gehensburg, he began his rule as the wise king coming from the skies, ending most territorial disputes of his vassals, and dealing with the famines, plagues and generally raising the life-conditions of his subjects. In return, he was praised and loved for his wisdom. Only a handful of people knew that he had military and industrial might of a small stellar empire backing him up. 994.M41 to the Present day King Luciano Jarre Arkes, the oldest son of King Jarre and Queen Rylee, he, by the feudal rules, took over the planet continuing the legacy set by his father, slowly preparing the people of Stolea to give up their way of life as mere peasants and once join the Federation as people who know how to shoot a rifle, drive a car or use a personal dataslate. This will, however, take many decades to achieve without causing massive cultural shock. Landscape & Nature *Generally, the landscape varies greatly, although temperament forests and temperament grasslands cover most of the planet's surface, along with several oceans that divide the landmass into four continents. The terrain is rather gentle, mostly in the form of rolling hills or flat plains. Mountain ridges are few in number and not very tall in height, yet far-reaching. The planet is also volcanically very active, resulting in frequent earthquakes. Due to the high angle of the planet's axial tilt, seasonal weather changes during the year are very significant. *Equatorial zone has a few arid deserts, yet those rather small in size, semi-savannah is much more frequent in there. One entire continent is located within the equatorial zone and is covered only by deserts and savannahs. The middle is dominated by a huge, active volcano. *Further north and south from the equatorial zone, the lands are usually wet and lush, yet somewhat cold even during the summer. So-called "black forests" often grow here. Those forests have tall trees with very dense treetops that let a very small amount of sunlight through, creating perpetual dusk during the day and near utter darkness during the night. Fog clouds are common to occur as well, making those forests very hard to navigate. In contrast to that, there are also "sacred forests" or groves that are lush and full of life. Unique, permanently blooming tree species usually grow there commonly, along with dozens of small plants and flowers. Population, Society & Culture * The majority of the population live in the countryside as poor, hardly literate peasants who tend to their fields and cattle, work in crafts or in dirty manufactorums. Their lives are relatively short as plages, wars or famines often gets past, and the backbreaking hard work, squalor, and lack of any but the most basic healthcare aren't raising their life-expectancy any higher. *More fortunate people live in the cities, running shops or guilds or lend their services to the nobles. Their position is often significantly better, as they are not so poor and miserable, not required to work the fields and are protected by strong walls, yet the large concentration of people results is more frequent plague outbreaks. They can, however, afford at least some reasonable healthcare. *Nobles, the wealthy few live in big mansions in the cities or in castles or chateaus, keeping the distance from the poor and miserable folk, as they live lives in luxury and opulence, protected by walls and armed guards loyal to their houses. As many towns and villages literally belong to them, along with all people living there, they can do whatever they see fit, as there is only a handful of laws protecting the commoners from the nobles, compared to the other way around. *The population is also very religious, almost fanatically devoted to their god. Their faith resembles the Imperial Creed, although over time it changed and adapted to local conditions. Their god is known as the God-Empra. In their belief, literally almost anything that happens is because of the God-Empra wills so, be it just bad dreams during the night, rain, good harvest, having something stolen or a plague. Notable locations *'Royal city of Gehensburg' - The largest city, and a place where the royal family has their palace. The palace district is huge, comparable to several city districts in size, protected by its own set of defensive walls and it's one of the few places on the planet where it is working electricity. Palace itself is the largest building on Stolea, and the serfs from the palace prohibited to ever leave the palace district without the king's approval. *'Stratenholm' - A dirty and cold industrial city located north in-between mountains, where are large iron ore and coal deposits. Due to the iron industry, thick smog engulfs the city perpetually, which results in rather poor health of the common folk and immense wealth for the nobles, who own the forges and manufactorums. Due to this wealth, they can afford to pay their workers a little better than usual, which also attracts new people to the city. The city is so polluted that even the snow is gray rather than white and sometimes, during bad weather the visibility is less than 10 meters. Notable people *'King Jurre Arkes' - Commodore of the Europan Navy, later declared a king of Stolea after he landed on the planet. His reign lasted for 86 years until he dies of natural causes at 146 years. *'Queen Rylee of Genehsburg' - Local woman, daughter of the king Iakob, forcibly married to Jurre Arkes. Later they fell in love with each other and she gave birth to 68 children, all fathered by her husband. She was later diagnosed with hyperfertility and out of the 68, 49 of them reached adulthood. *'Luciano Jurre Arkesh' - the oldest son of the King and Queen, and the current ruler of Stolea, married to Katrina Iskee of Stratenholm. *'Florica' - Infant, who Queen Katrina adopted as her own after both of her parents died in manufactorum accident. Nowadays, she's a lady of age who often attends public meetings and her buxom figure is the subject of fantasies of many young men. Armed Forces Stolea is home to only one regiment of modern infantry, although nobles have their own armies and warbands, funded and trained from the noble's treasury. They are, however, usually poorly trained men-at-arms equipped with primitive melee or ranged weapons, with an occasional knight in the mail or plate armor in a leading position. *'Stolean Royal Guard' - A 3600 men strong unit who guards the royal palace and serves as the king's personal guard in case of need. Place in the regiment is hereditary and oldest offsprings from a family are bound by tradition to join the ranks after their parents, other relatives, or just to replenish the ranks. Usually, the whole family lives inside the palace walls in and it's not uncommon for both spouses to serve, but they never do is the same squad. They are equipped with long, ornate lasrifles, silver cuirasses, black tricorne hats with feathers and long, crimson coats with golden decorations. The regiment consists of three infantry companies and one cavalry company. In case of dire need, there are some tanks and armored vehicles hidden in the garages beneath the palace, but they are never brought out to the public. The Order of the Silver Hand has also a presence on this world, albeit a very small, only to protect the high priesthood, important abbeys, and cathedrals. Sisters are not allowed to carry any guns, yet they still wear their power armor and energy swords. The common folk sees them as the gods own holy warriors and only a drunk fool or a heretic ever dares to give them even a mean look. The sisters, given their humbleness, often give alms to the poor or help them deal with unruly individuals, be it naughty children or marauding bandits. 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